Ear muff mounting structure for headgear



July 13, 1965 l F. P. HALUsKA 3,193,841

EAR MUFF MOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR HEADGEAR Filed Feb. 3, 1964 o BY 1:33.50J Arron/v United States Patent O "ce 3,193,841 EAR MUFF MUNTlNGSTRUCTURE FR HEADGEAR Frank P. Haiuslra, 1857 IW. Sprague Road,Broadview Heights, @hier Filed Feb. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 342,181 6 Claims.(Cl. 2 3) This invention relates generally to the field of safetyequipment, and particularly to improved structure for mountingprotective ear muffs on opposed side wall segments of a head protectingdevice such as a hard hat, cap or other type of headgear.

Many types of industrial jobs require that the workers wear protectivestructure for their heads in the nature of a cap or hard hat, but onlyin very recent years have safety measures taken the form of protectingworkers ears from hazards such as excessively loud noises, sounds of anear damaging frequency, heat, sea-shell noises, and noise conditionswhich are oppressive from a physiological or psychological standpoint.Problems are encountered however, in mounting ear protecting units onsupporting headgear. For example, in regard to safety hard hats, theouter protective shell of the hat is normally located in spacedrelationship from the wearers head making it difficult to mount earprotecting structure thereon in disposition to effectively cover the.persons ears. Also, it is extremely desirable that the ear rnufs bemounted on the headgear in a manner so that the same may be easily movedout of ear protecting relationship if the person so desires while at thesame time permitting the wearer to selectively adjust the pressure ofthe muifs against his head. Furthermore, the ear mounting structureshould not in any way interfere with the normal protective function ofthe headgear, or decrease the integrity of the outer shell of a hardhat. Finally, it has heretofore been found difficult to assure that thewearer does not develop dermatitis or other conditions from wearing theear protecting structure over long periods and which is attributable toexcessive pressure of the ear muffs against the wearers head, orinability to readily adjust the pressure as required.

Among the problems referred to above, one of the most difficult to solvewas found to be the requirement of eflicient, simple and inexpensivemeans for ypermitting the wearer of the headgear to selectively adjustthe pressure of the ear muffs against his head and which necessarilyvaries from individual to individual.

It is therefore the primary object of the invention to provide novelstructure for mounting ear muffs on headgear of various types whichovercomes the problems mentioned above, and which includes improvedcomponents for selectively varying the force under which the ear muffsare biased toward the wearers head when the muffs are located in normalear protecting disposition.

It is another very important object of the invention to providestructure for mounting protective ear muffs on headgear wherein themounting structure for each muff includes a generally U-shaped member ofresilient material, adapted to be secured on respective side wallsegments of the headgear above the wearers ears, and including novelextensible means between opposed legs of each of the mounting structuresfor permitting selective variation of the force under which the outermutf carrying leg of the U-shaped member is biased toward the wearershead. In this respect, another significant object of the invention is toprovide ear muti mounting structure as described, wherein the extensibleadjustment means between the resilient legs of the mounting structurefor each muif includes an elongated, externally threaded bolt lglilPatented July 13, 1965 extending through the leg adjacent acorresponding side wall segment of the headgear and toward the outer legof the support member, and with an adjustable nut being provided overthe corresponding bolt and abutting the inner face of the outer legsection so that the wearer of the headgear may selectively adjust thepressure under which a corresponding ear mutf is forced toward his head,by the simple expedient of rotating a respective adjustment nut. Afurther important object is to provide mounting structure for ear muifscarried by suitable headgear, wherein the utilization of extensiblemeans which is carried by the inner leg section of the U-shaped mountingmember for each of the ear muifs, and which simply abuts the inner faceof the outer leg of the muff carrying structure, presents a muchstronger assembly which may be conveniently and easily adjusted asrequired, and wherein there is no tendency for the muti carrying leg ofthe support structure to bend or break at the point of engagement of theextensible adjustment means therewith.

A still further important object of the invention is to providestructure for mounting ear mulfs on headgear which is especially adaptedfor mounting of commercially available ear muffs thereon withoutmodification of the muffs being required in any way, and thereforeminimizing the cost of the ear protecting assembly. Another importantaim of the invention in this connection is to provide mounting structurefor ear mutfs carried by headgear, which is constructed in a manner topermit mounting thereof on presently existing hats so that personsalready in the possession of safety headgar or the like may modify thesame to provide ear protection, thereby resulting in a considerablesaving and making conversion of the hats attractive from an economicstandpoint for maximum safety and comfort under all conditions which theworker may encounter in his job.

Other important objects and details of construction of the present earmutf mounting structure will be explained in greater detail or becomeobvious as the following specification progresses.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a safety hard hat of the capstyle and having ear protecting mutfs mounted thereon employing theimproved mounting structure of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the hard hat and ear muff structureas shown in FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevational view illustratingthe mounting structure for securing each of the ear muffs to acorresponding side Wall segment of the safety hat, and with the pivotingaction of the ear mufr mount, as well as the main support membertherefor, being illustrated by dash lines of differing lengths;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, vertical cross-sectional View takensubstantially on the line 4 4 of FIG. 3 and looking in the direction ofthe arrows; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, end elevational view of the portion of the earmuff mounting structure serving to mount an individual muti on a mainsupport member therefor, and viewing the components along a lineindicated generally by the numerals 5 5 in FIG. 4 and looking downwardlyin the direction of the arrows.

A safety hat assembly constructed in accordance with one of thepreferred concepts of the present invention is broadly denominated 10 inthe drawings and includes a hard hat 12 having opposed side wallsegments 14 and 16 which are located adjacent and above a persons earswhen wearing hat 12. Although a hard hat of the cap style has been shownin the drawings for purposes of illustrating the type of hat upon whichthe present ear muff construction of this invention is especiallyadapted to be mounted, it is to be understood that the ear mutfs sonshead.` In this way, the peripheral marginZiV of hat 12 is maintaineda-,slight distance above Athe persons ears 4while wearing hat 12.

A pair of ear mutic attachments 22 and 24 are mounted on hat 12at'opposed sides thereof, withattachment 22 being pivotally secured toside wall segment 14 while at- Y, tachment 24 is ypivotally carried byside Wall segment 16 Y of hat 12. Since `the ear muif attachments 22 and24 are oftidentical construction, only one of the same is de-i scribedin-detail, with it being understood that the same numbers are; used foridentical parts of theattachments.V

Thus, referring to ear muti" attachment 22, it is to be seen that thesame includes a generally U-shaped support member 26 constructed of anelongated strip of resilient material rebent upon itself intermediatethe ends thereof to present a first leg section 2S anda second legsection 3) which are interconnected by an intermediate, longitudinallyarcuate bight section`32 which is normally bent, during construction 'ofmember 26, to Vcause leg section 30 to be biased toward leg section 2S.4

The elongated leg section 28 is vprovided 'with' three openings 34, 35and 38 therein arrangedin alignment longitudinally of the'leg sectionand adapted to receive an elongated securing element` 40 in the natureof a bolt having a head 42 within the interior VofV hat 12, and anexternally threaded segment44 extending-through an opening 46 in sidewall 14 of hat 12, as well as through the opening 36 inleg section 23.As will be explained here-Y inafter, the bolt 40 may be positioned inany of. the openings 34,736 or 38 depending upon the dimensions of thehead of a particular wearer of hat 12. Washer 4S is located between head42 of bolt 4@ and the innersurface of hat 12, while a similar washer Silis located over segment 44 of bolt 4i) in contact with the outer face ofleg section 28. A self-locking, aircraft type nut 52 is threaded oversegment 44 of bolt 40 and in engagement with Washer d. It is to beunderstood'that the nut 52 has a dome-shaped hollow head 54 which mountsa threaded, synthetic resin or the like, inner fitting 56 which tightlyengages the threads of segment 44 of bolt 4@ and maires the nut 52resistant to rotation on the bolt. In the fabricai tion of attachment22, the nut 52 is threaded against washer 50 with only suicient force toretain member 2e in a normal xed position on hat 12, but notwith'sutiicient .Y pressure to preclude rotation of member 26 about thev axis of bolt 40 as will be explained.`

Ahollowucap nut 58 threaded over theV outer extremity of segment 44 ofbolt'4ti (which it is to be noted normally tremity 700i leg section 3dcomprises'a bolt Vtitl extending through extremity itiV as well asbightportion "i2 of strap 74, andy provided with a self-locking nut82 onthe outer threaded extremity thereof. Nut 82 is of the same type as nut52. Again, it is to be vpointed out that the nut 82 is threaded on bolt80 only to the extent of preventing very free Vrotation of strap 74Vabout the axis of the bolt, but not interfering withV pivoting motionthereof, as is best shown in FIG. 3. In any. event,'the downturnedoutermost end of extremity 7) precludes free rota- Y tion of strap 74about bolt S0.

The Vearmutf 84 may be of conventional construction and includes ahollowY housing 86 adapted to receive Sound absorbing material, andprovided with a head engaging, ear encircling, resilient pad element onthe normally innermost face lthereof. Pivot pins 90 projecting outwardlyin opposite directions from opposed sides of housing 86 are4 adapted tobe received within corresponding openings therefor in legsr and 78 ofstrap 74,' thereby ypermitting the muif S4v to rotate'about agenerallyhorizontal axis when hat-12 is on the wearers head,

as is'evident'from FIGS. 1 and2. Y

In the useiof hat assembly it), the attachments 22 and 24are normallylocated in Vthe disposition thereof illustrated in FIGS. l and 2,whereby thehat 12 may be sim- .ply fitted over the persons headasiheholdsear muffs 34 outwardly away from the side of his headsufliciently to cause pad elements 88 to clear the wearers ears. AS theYear muis S4 are held outwardly, the sections 3d of supportmembers 2eflex against the bias of bight sections 32 and thereby causing the innerfaces of leg sections 3@ to move out of engagement with cap nuts 58.Thus, upon release of the ear rnusV 84 from the persons hands, the bightsections 32 in cooperation with the leg sections 3i) ofeach .of thesupport members 26, bias the pad element-s 88 of ear muiis S4 into tightengagement with the Wearers head and in encircling relationship to hisears.

Itis to be noted at this juncture 4that the force under spaced from theopposed inner surface of leg section 3!)Y a also has amain body 6dthreaded over the bolt, as Vwell as a tubular-outer housing portion'62which overlies thev outer extremity of segment 44 of bolt 4d. Thedomeshaped head section 64 of cap nut 58 between housing portion 62 andbody 6d, receives a synthetic resin, inner Y tting 66 similarVV tofitting 516, and thereby causing the cap nut .58 to be resistant torotation on boltv 4d. As best shown in FIG. 4, the outer end Wall 68 ofthe housing section 30 yandithe latter is of imperforate constructionthroughout the entire length thereof engaged by captnut 58.

The outer extremity '70 of leg Vsrectiond remote from l bight section32,' is bent into Vgenerally,L-sh'ape'd con- Vthe wearers head, dependsupon the location of respectivey cap nuts 58 on bolts 40.'Sincetheextensible units presented by bolts litiand `the cap nuts 58thereon determine the locationof leg sections '30 with respect to j legvsections 2S, the spacing between kear muffs S4' i is dependent upon andis governed by the relative locationsof cap nuts 58.with respect toouter leg sections 30 of support members 26. The straps 74 carrying earmufs 84 thereon flex very little longitudinally of legs 76 and 78,because the greatest width ofthe straps is Ylocated in generallyparallel relationship to the line of forceYV on which each of the earmuifs 34 is biased toward the wearer/s head, and therefore lthe'principal bias applied to each of the ear Inuits is attributable to thesupport members '26 and especially the bight sections 32 thereof. Thiscauses the ear muffs 84 to be forced into fthe necessary tightengagement with theV wearers head to assure iirm adherence of padelements 8S to the portion of the wearers his ears. j

If the ear rnuffsY 84 do not engage the persons head with suiiicientpressure, or are too'tight against'his head, the pressure may beVreadily adjusted by rotation of @cap nuts 58 in a proper direction onvcorresponding bolts 46,'to either shift the respective leg sections 30outwardly relative to adjacent leg sections 23,' or to portion 62 of capnut 58, abuts the innerA surface of leg normally preclude rotation,thereoffon Ysegments 44--of boltsV 4t) during normal use of hatassembly-10.' Thus, the kadjustmentcannot be made with a persons fingersbut can easily be accomplished witha tool.

When the wearer of hat 12 desires to use the same `without :dispositionof the Year/mutt attachments 22 and head in surrounding relationship toV24 in overlying relationship to his ears, this may be done by simplerotation of support members 26 about ythe axes of corresponding bolts40. Normally, one of the ear muti attachments will be rotated so thatthe ear muff 84 'thereon faces forwardly, while the other ear muffattachment is rotated in a direction toposition the ear muff 84 thereonfacing rearwardly. This balances the hat assembly and precludes unequaldistribution of weight on hat 12. It is believed obvious however, thatmany rest positions of ear muffs S4 on hat 12 are within the selectionof the wearer according to his comfort needs.

The pivotal mounting of mounting straps '74 on members 26 also permitsthe pad elements 88 of ear muffs 84 to conform very closely to thewearers head and notwithstanding slight variations in the head sizes ofthe persons wearing the hat assemblies 10.

The relative position of ear muffs 84 with respect to the margin 2t) ofhat 12 may also be readily varied by altering the position of bolts 4Qin the openings through inner leg :section 28 of each of the supportmembers 26. This adjustment may be readily accomplished by simpleremoval of cap nuts 5S yand the fastening nuts 52 on corresponding bolts40.

The way in which the cap nuts 5S abut the inner surfaces ofcorresponding leg sections 30, rather than passing through suitableopenings therefor in the outer leg of support members 26, is extremelyimportant to the proper operation and longevity of attachments 22 and24, since there is no tendency for leg sections 30 to be deformed orbreak at the point of engagement thereof by the extensible units definedby bolts 4f) and cap nuts 58. Furthermore, the adjustment of tension ofear muffs 84 against the wearers head may be easily and readily effectedby simple rotation of cap nuts 58.

It is also now apparent that ear muff attachments 22 and 24 may bemounted on headgear such as hat 12 at the time of -original productionthereof, or they may be secured to headgear already out in the fieldwhich require modification for sound damping or hearing conservationpurposes. Presently existing hats or other headgear undergoingmodication require only a single hole 46 in hat 12 for each of theattachments 22 and 24 and which are preferably drilled about 1%@ inchesabove the rim of the hat and plus or minus 6 inches forward of the backcenter line of hat 12. It is to be recognized however, that thepositioning of holes 46 will obviously vary with the fit of the hat orheadgear and the position of the wearers ears in regard to the backcenter line of the hat 12 and margin 2f? thereof. These holes will alsovary to a certain extent depending upon the external configuration ofthe headgear.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new eand desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Structure for mounting an ear muff on headgear comprising:

a generally U-shaped support member :of resilient material and having afirst leg section adapted to be secured to said headgear, a second legsection spaced outwardly from said first leg section and thereby adaptedto be spaced from the headgear, and a bight section interconnectingadjacent extremities of said first and second leg sections and biasingthe second leg section inwardly toward said first leg section, saidsecond leg section being adapted to carry an ear muff thereon in alocation to engage the head of a wearer of the headgear in overlyingrelationship to one of his ears; and

selectively extensible means carried by one leg section of the memberand engaging the other leg section for varying the spacing therebetweenagainst the bias of said bight section to permit variation of thepressure of the ear muff against said wearers head.

2. Structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said extensible meansincludes an elongated element extending from said first leg sectiontoward the second leg section, and a component shiftably mounted on saidelement for movement longitudinally thereof and engaging said second legsection for maintaining the latter spaced outwardly from said first legsection any selected distance within limits against the bias of saidbight section.

3. Structure as set forth in claim 2 wherein is provided connector meanson said element for securing said first leg section of the member tosaid headgear, said first leg vsection being provided with a series ofspaced openings therein arranged longitudinally of the first leg sectionfor selectively receiving said element whereby the position of saidmember on said headgear may be varied by the wearer.

4. A headgear assembly comprising:

headgear having opposed side wall segments each terminating adjacentrespective ears of a person wearin the headgear;

a protective mulf for each of the wearers ears;

support structure for each muff including a first section secured to acorresponding side wall segment of the headgear, a second section spacedoutwardly from each first section and thereby spaced from an adjacentside wall segment of the headgear, means mounting a corresponding muffon each second section in disposition to overlie a respective ear of thewearer of the headgear, connector means joining the first and secondsections of each support structure and biasing the second sectionsinwardly toward adjacent first sections, and selectively operable meansinterposed between respective adjacent rst and second sections forvarying the bias of corresponding second sections toward adjacent firstsections to permit change of the pressure of the ear muffs against thewearers head; and

means pivotally mounting corresponding first sections of the supportstructures on respective side wall segments of the headgear to permitswinging of the muffs to positions clearing the wearers ears when theheadgear is in the normal position thereof on the persons head.

5. An assembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein said means pivotallymounting the support structures includes bolt means extending throughthe side wall segments of the headgear, said first sections of thesupport means each being provided with a series of openings therein forindividually receiving corresponding bolt means whereby the location ofthe ear muffs relative to the persons ears may be varied by shifting thebolt means to a different opening therefor in a corresponding firstsection of the support structures.

6. A headgear assembly comprising:

headgear having opposed side wall segments each terminating adjacentrespective ears of a person wearing the headgear;

support structure for each muff including an elongated band of resilientmaterial bent upon itself to present a U-shaped support comprised of afirst section extending upwardly from a corresponding side wall segment,a bight section integral with the first section disposed above thelatter and extending outwardly from said first section, and a secondsection integral with I the bight section and depending therefrom, thebight section biasing the second section toward the first section;

an externally threaded bolt for each structure, each bolt extendingthrough the corresponding side wall segment of the headgear, said boltspivotally mounting respective first sections of the support structuresto corresponding side wall segments and extending outwardly therefromtoward the respective second sections;

means mountng a muff on each of said second sections;

and

an elongated, internally threaded nut for each bolt recorrespondingsecondsections for holding the InuitsV Vin preselected relationship withrespect Vtothe Wearers'` ears, the second sections being free from said'nuts for manually shifting movement outwardly from the nuts against thebias ofthe bight'sections to` permit removal Vof the muffs from'theWearers ears andY of the support structures on tlleir're'spectivey Y l tY Y 10 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

pivoting bolts.

References YCited by tlleExaminer UNITED STATES PATENT Feher. t Y

Childress V 179'-156 Childress 179-156 Childress Y. 179-156 'Roth.179156

1. STRUCTURE FOR MOUNTING AN EAR MUFF ON HEADGEAR COMPRISING: AGENERALLY U-SHAPED SUPPORT MEMBER OF RESILIENT MATERIAL AND HAVING AFIRST LEG SECTION ADAPTED TO BE SECURED TO SAID HEADGEAR, A SECOND LEGSECTION SPACED OUTWARDLY FROM SAID FIRST LEG SECTION AND THEREBY ADAPTEDTO BE SPACED FROM THE HEADGEAR, AND A BIGHT SECTION INTERCONNECTINGADJACENT EXTREMITIES OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND LEG SECTIONS AND BIASINGTHE SECOND LEG SECTION INWARDLY TOWARD SAID FIRST LEG SECTION, SAIDSECOND LEG SECTION BEING ADAPTED TO CARRY AN EAR MUFF THEREON IN ALOCATION TO ENGAGETHE HEAD OF A WEARER OF THE HEADGEAR IN OVERLYINGRELATIONSHIP TO ONE OF HIS EARS; AND SELECTIVELY EXTENSIBLE MEANSCARRIED BY ONE LEG SECTION OF THE MEMBER AND ENGAGING THE OTHER LEGSECTION FOR VARYING THE SPACING THEREBETWEEN AGAINST THE BIAS OF SAIDBIGHT SECTION TO PERMIT VARIATION OF THE PRESSURE OF THE EAR MUFFAGAINST SAID WEARER''S HEAD.